One of the centerpieces on display will be curiously infamous Paul Bern/Jean Harlow Mural that once hung in the couple's Benedict Canyon home. This will be the first time it's ever been available for public viewing!

Its theme is a medieval feast starring their famous friends including Joan Crawford, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., John Gilbert, Bebe Daniels, Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg, just to name a few.

This mural has an amazing, hidden-Hollywoodesque history. Read the details in this encore presentation of the story I wrote in 2006, and be sure to check out my Who's Who breakdown of the celebrities sitting around the fabled table.

Fans will also see at the exhibit Jean's personal and studio-related items (letters, contracts, autographs, photos, posters a fur coat, film costumes, etc.) which have been provided by various collectors, the equally infamous Grand Hotel movie premiere ledger (owned by Darrell) and Jean's 1932 Packard Phaeton, courtesy of Cliff and Janet Gooding.

The exhibit will run March 3 through September 5, 2011.

Save The Date Alert >>> Darrell and co-author Mark Vieira will be holding a Grand Opening Book Signing for Harlow in Hollywood at the museum on Wednesday, March 9 from 6:30-9:30pm.

Here's a sneak peek photo from Darrell:

Items on display are featured in the book, so this is will be a wonderfully unique opportunity to view the rare artifacts up close and personal, then take them home in book form.

The Platinum Page will be attending the exhibit and signing so stay tuned for additional reporting on this story.

George Hurrell, Jean Harlow, 1935. Image
courtesy of the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate Archive. Copyright the
Estate of George Hurrell.

SANTA MONICA, CA - The California Heritage Museum is pleased to
present "Lights! Camera Glamour! The Photography of George Hurrell". As
studio photographer for MGM, Warner Brothers and Columbia, Hurrell shot
some of the world’s most beautiful and intriguing personalities,
creating the template for the Hollywood glamour portrait. The
exhibition follows his career from his arrival in Southern California
as a promising young painter to his acclaim as the foremost glamour
photographer of his time.

In addition to more than fifty iconic portraits, “Lights! Camera!
Glamour!” features a room of nude portraits, never before seen in a
museum context; a recreation of Hurrell’s studio with his camera,
screen and the original boom light; a section devoted to his commercial
work for magazines and record covers; and a screening area that will
show the documentary film, narrated by Sharon Stone, made shortly
before Hurrell’s death in 1992.

The exhibition is drawn from the Pancho Barnes Trust Estate Archive
and the Estate of George Hurrell, and is curated by Dr. Louis D’Elia
and the staff of the California Heritage Museum. A series of films
featuring the movies stars Hurrell immortalized will be shown at Santa
Monica Public Library along with a program of lectures. A catalogue
with an essay by Virginia Postrel author of “The Substance of Style”
accompanies the exhibition.

Hurrell came to California in the 1920s, initially as a painter, at
the invitation of the well-known artist Edgar Payne. Staying at the
Laguna Beach property of aviatrix Pancho Barnes, his photographic
career started with the portrait he took of her for her pilot’s license
and word of his talent quickly spread to her circle of friends.

His first commission was a series of portraits of Ramon Novarro in
opera roles, images that are now very rare and sought after. Novarro’s
friend Norma Shearer, then known for her wholesome roles, approached
Hurrell to change her image. His sizzling portraits convinced her
husband, MGM’s Head of Production Irving Thalberg, that she could star
as the sultry lead in “The Divorcee”- a role that earned her the
Academy Award for Best Actress.

Thalberg hired Hurrell as MGM’s studio photographer in1930. It was
to be the start of a career stretching over sixty years, in which he
defined the classic look of Hollywood’s golden era and shaped the
images of film’s most iconic stars. In the words of curator Louis
D’Elia he “gave a face to fame” and in doing so immortalized those who
sat for him.

Hurrell’s practice as an artist informed his photographic images.
He worked into the negative with graphite, removing blemishes and
adding highlights. The extraordinary shadows cast by Harlow’s eyelashes
in her 1935 portrait, are all the work of Hurrell’s pencil. The
flawless finish of his portraits is purely the fantasy of a painter but
came to represent the luminous beauty of the screen idol.

Hurrell’s technical achievements are celebrated in the exhibition.
His invention of the boom light, now a standard piece of equipment for
gaffers, enabled him to achieve the extraordinary controlled lighting
effects that are a signature of his work. The exhibition recreates
Hurrell’s studio with his original camera and boom light, satin draped
chaise and his hand-painted background screen. The studio also features
Hurrell self–portraits, two of his oil paintings and personal material
relating to his long and illustrious career.

The California Heritage Museum is located in an 1894 Historic
Landmark house, at 2612 Main Street, in Santa Monica. Hours are
Wednesday through Sunday, 11:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. General admission is
$5, students and seniors are $3 and children 12 and under are free.
Parking is free and handicapped facilities are available. On Sundays,
the museum hosts a Farmer's Market in its parking lot. Visitors to the
museum can find parking in adjacent "quarter metered" parking lots.